Good News, GOP! You Can Stay Focused On Misogyny–Biden Says He Won’t Run For President

Amid months of speculation, Vice President Joe Biden announced today in the Rose Garden with President Obama looking on that he will no run for President of the United States, saying the “window has closed” on the chance for a winning campaign:

As my family and I have worked through the grieving process, I’ve said all along what I’ve said time and again to others, that it may very well be that the process by the time we get through it closes the window…I’ve concluded it has closed.

After Biden’s son Beau, former Attorney General of Delaware, died of a brain tumor earlier in May, shadows of doubt were cast in Washington whether or not the Vice President could muster through an emotional challenge to run for president. Touching on his late son as inspiration, Biden said he will “not be silent” and intends to “speak out clearly and forcefully” on many issues, from paid leave, income inequality, systemic racism, and finding a cure for cancer.

Biden then praised President Obama and the “resurgence” of America under his Administration:

I intend to speak out clearly and forcefully as much as I can where we stand as a party and where we need to go as a nation. This is what I believe: I believe President Obama has led this nation from crisis to recovery and are now at the cusp of resurgence. I am proud to have played a part in that. This party, our nation, will be making a tragic mistake if we walk away or attempt to undue the Obama legacy.

Democrats made the fatal mistake in 2014 of running away from President Obama and his accomplishments, costing them the Senate and the chance o taking back the House.

In the midst of contentious polarization, Biden reminded Democrats not to look at Republicans as their enemies, but rather their political opposition, saying, “I believe we have to end the divisive partisan politics that is ripping this country apart…It’s mean-spirited, it’s petty and it’s gone on for far too long.”

In his closing remarks, the Vice President said he is more optimistic now than he ever has been in his 30 years of public service:

We intend to spend the next 15 months fighting for what we’ve always cared about, what my family’s always cared about, with every ounce of our being. I am absolutely certain we are capable of accomplishing extraordinary things. And when we do, America won’t just win the future. We will own the finish line.

With Jim Webb dropping out of the race and VP Biden declining to run, the Democratic primary consists now of frontrunner Hillary Clinton, Senator Bernie Sanders, former Governor Martin O’Malley and former Senator Lincoln Chaffee.